Monday, May 14, 2007

Compost Experiment--Spring Flowers 2007

We’ve been amassing a compost pile over the past few seasonal flower change-outs. We install a fair amount of annual flowers each Spring and Fall--using a LOT of compost. As a result, our compost pile has neither seemed adequate for the job, nor quite ripe enough at the right time. However, this year the stars lined up just right, the worms moved with sufficient efficiency, and Mother Nature delivered on time, in sufficient quantity for the Spring flower change-out. We managed to install all our current commitments using our own composted material.

Time will reveal whether our blend of ingredients proves better, worse, or as middling as its commercially available brethren. It’s seemed, in my anecdotal experience, that the commercially available compost has been something less than super rich in recent years. Maybe, we’ve hit upon the solution.

We’re still using our other proprietary blend of ingredients--fertilizers, microbes, moisture enhancers, mulches, soils, and of course, flowers.

Updates on the benefits to begonias, et. al. will follow.

A.J., Proudland Landscape, LLC © 2007

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posted by A. J. @ 11:54 AM 0 comments

Thursday, April 12, 2007

A Frost Lesson

Last week we had a late season frost (late for Atlanta, Georgia). In speaking with people this week, I am reminded of a question I am often asked each year. As soon as April hits, people wonder why we haven't swapped their seasonal flowers, annuals or bedding plants. Inevitably there is a neighbor, or an apartment complex, or an industrial park somewhere that has new summer flowers early in April. People see this and then wonder why they don't have new flowers yet. Last week is the reason. There is a historical point of last frost. Plant before that and you may have to pay a hefty price.

Woody plants, woody ornamentals will typically be OK. However, tender annual flowers and bedding plants won't fair so well. In many years Mother Nature won't make her point. But every now and again, she will. Waiting a couple of more weeks is a small price to pay to prevent redoing (and repaying for) the work all over again.

A.J., Proudland Landscape, LLC © 2007

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posted by A. J. @ 1:49 PM 0 comments